CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Maybe we’ve gotten the Canadians all wrong.

They seem to have the market cornered on niceness, the type of folks who always say hello and never have a bad word to say about anyone or anything. Certainly not the type to cause a ruckus or, gasp, cheat.

And yet …

For the second Olympics in a row, Canada is facing accusations that it’s playing fast and loose with the rules to get an edge. Last time it was soccer, when the Canadian women’s team was caught using drones to spy on opponents at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, it’s curling. Curling!

Canada’s men’s team was called out not once but twice over the weekend for “double touching,” which can be either touching the stone after its release or touching the granite at any point. Then Canada’s women were accused of a similar offense.

“Obviously it’s frustrating to have that happen,” said Canada skip Rachel Homan, who had a stone removed from the ice for a double-touch violation during a match against Sweden on Saturday, Feb. 14.

“But we’re trying to stick together as a team, and we’re supporting the guys and they’re doing the same for us,” Homan said. “There’s zero intention. It kind of got blown up for no reason.”

That is probably true.

The Canadian curlers are accused of trying to manipulate their stones’ trajectory, not carrying them down the ice and depositing them in the house (the bullseye that is the curlers’ goal).

Plus, a curling stone weighs between 38 and 44 pounds and there is 21 feet of ice between the hogline and the house. Giving the handle an extra tap, or even touching the granite, isn’t going to be what gets Canada on the podium.

But it’s the combination of a cheating scandal in curling – which is always going to be fodder for the “sport, not a sport” debate – and the nicest people on earth being at the center of it that has turned it into the cause celebre at these Games.

“There’s always something blowing up at the Olympics, right? This year it’s this,” sweeper Emma Miskew said after Canada beat China on Monday, Feb. 16, to get to 2-3 in the tournament at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

“It’s all good. We’ll get through it,” Miskew said. “I think it’ll die down eventually.”

Yes, but what about the damage done to Canada’s image as the country nobody can hate?

Canadians are the human equivalent of Disneyland. The next time they’re accused of being obnoxious or braggarts it will be the first. They’re easy-going and fun. Being around them is an immediate mood boost.

They’re like Australians, only with moose and maple syrup instead of koalas and kangaroos.

Now the world, especially people not paying close attention, are going to think Canada is just as corrupt as everybody else. That they’ll cut corners and throw people under the bus if it benefits them.

The Canadians don’t see it that way, of course. They believe they’re the wronged party.  

“We’ve played the game at a high level long enough where we weren’t looking for infractions. … We just trust that the people around us aren’t trying to cheat,” said Canada’s Marc Kennedy, who was called out for double touching by Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson to start this whole mess.

“There might be small infractions here and there, but most of the time you shrug it off. You’ve got so much respect for the players that you’re playing against,” Kennedy said Monday. “So this whole trying to catch people in the act of an infraction and anything to win a medal, it sucks. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Except there’s video of the infractions. And while the Canadians might say they’re inadvertent, it was a similar story initially in Paris.

The women’s coaching staff initially denied involvement or knowledge of the drone scheme, only for an investigation to reveal that it was a long-standing operation and the coaches had full knowledge and involvement in it.

Maybe this time is different. Maybe the double touch accusations are nothing but a misunderstanding. But when a country has cheating scandals in back-to-back Olympics, it starts to look like a pattern. And once trust is broke, the cloud of suspicion is almost impossible to clear.

Even if you’re Canadian.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

• After several injury-plagued seasons, Mike Trout is motivated to prove he can still be one of baseball’s best players.
• Trout has expressed his desire to return to playing center field, a position he feels most comfortable in.
• Despite recent struggles and not being ranked among the game’s elite, Trout’s presence continues to command respect in the Angels’ clubhouse.

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout isn’t vowing to be the Mike Trout of old, the man who was baseball’s greatest player for nearly a decade.

The 11-time All-Star and three-time MVP winner insists he is not angry or upset that he no longer is considered one of the game’s elite players, or even listed among the top 100 players by MLB Network.

Yet ever so quietly the Los Angeles Angels say that they see Trout’s eyes smoldering, that intensity burning inside him, and the confidence to prove he can return to being one of the game’s finest players.

‘I know what I’m capable of doing,’ Trout said Monday. ‘And I feel great.’

The Angels can see it in his demeanor, hear it in his voice, and watch it in his interactions.

‘I’m excited for him, that’s my boy,’ Angels special assistant Torii Hunter, the nine-time Gold Glove winner, tells USA TODAY Sports. ‘I don’t care what nobody says, I think he’s going to have a good year, man. To hear his enthusiasm this year is way different than any other year.

‘I think he’s got a lot to prove. He’s going to prove everybody wrong, all of the naysayers.’

It’s not as if Trout is necessarily going to produce a 1.000 OPS as he did for three consecutive seasons, or hit 40 homers again, and he certainly won’t be stealing 40 bases.

But to believe he’s finished, to think that he can no longer help a team, then you don’t know Mike Trout, who for nine consecutive seasons finished in the top five in the American League MVP balloting.

‘He doesn’t need any rankings or lists to promote himself,’ Angels GM Perry Minasian says, ‘but this is a motivated person. I know the last three, four, five years haven’t been what any of us have hoped, but I believe he’s in constant competition with himself to be as he possibly can be.

‘It’s not even chasing the old Mike Trout, but it’s being as good as he can possibly be right now. You see how relaxed he is showing up, how confident he is. He can still do things that other people can’t do.’

There’s a reason Trout commands such a presence in the Angels camp, with teammates still in awe, remembering the days when he was the greatest player on the planet, drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, and all of the great center fielders before him.

‘My kids were wanting me to retire this winter,’ 36-year-old Angels reliever Brent Suter said, ‘but one day I told them, ‘What if Mike Trout wants me to be his teammate?’ They went crazy. My (7-year-old) son started chanting Mike Trout to his friends in school. They’re so excited, as am I. I never played with a bona fide first-ballot Hall of Famer.

‘He’s given more to this game than you can imagine. He’s such a huge ambassador for our game. Really, it’s an honor playing with him.’

Trout, 34, revealed Monday that he intends to return to center field, just like old times, a position he he last played on a regular basis four years ago.

He sat down with Minasian and rookie manager Kurt Suzuki when he arrived to camp Sunday, strongly expressed his desire to play center, and they promised they’d give him every opportunity. They don’t have a true center fielder, so why not?

‘I told (Suzuki) I’d play anywhere,’ Trout said, ‘but obviously I’d prefer center. I just feel more comfortable out there. I feel like I’m at my best when I’m in center. … When I’m out there, it’s just a lot better for me than worrying about the corners.’

The Angels are fully on board, believing he can play four, perhaps even five days a week in center field with occasional games in right field and at DH.

‘He’s in a great place,’ Minasian said. ‘He’s still strong, still explosive. We’re not closing the door on anything. Kurt and I are on the same page. He’s got the ability to play all three outfield spots. He’d do whatever we need. If we wanted him to play shortstop, he’d do that too.’

Trout is cool playing anywhere, but wants no part of being a full-time DH again as he did a year ago. He opened the 2025 season as a right fielder, but after 22 games, suffered a bone bruise on his surgically-repaired left knee running the bases. He returned a month later and was the Angels’ full-time the remainder of the season. He wound up producing the worst season of his career, hitting .232 with 26 homers, 64 RBI and a career-low .797 OPS.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Trout’s last great season was when he was a center fielder back in 2022. He hit 40 homers with 80 RBI and a .999 OPS in 119 games that season. He since has been riddled with back, knee and calf injuries, playing in only 241 games out of 486.

Trout’s injury history prevented him from being able to participate in the WBC where he was captain of the USA Team in 2023. He likely wasn’t going to be in the starting lineup, but he badly wanted to play until discovering that the WBC insurance policy wouldn’t cover him in case of injury, potentially voiding the remaining $177.25 million remaining in the last five years of his contract.

‘It’s disappointing,’ Trout said. ‘I definitely wanted to run it back, you know, with all of the guys.’

Now, staying with the Angels all spring, it gives him a chance to prove he can be an everyday center fielder again. If he didn’t believe he could pull it off, he wouldn’t be so adamant about the move. But he feels completely healthy, lost about six pounds, and for the first time in five years is coming off a normal winter of workouts.

Besides, the Angels actually are a better team with a healthy Trout in center field. The Angels could move Jo Adell back to his natural position in right field and have Josh Lowe in left with Jorge Soler as the primary DH.

‘I felt like when I was in center, it was less (stress) on my body,’ Trout said. ‘To be honest, right field felt like I was running a lot. It’s just a preference thing. Talking to some other outfielders, they feel the same way sometimes, that center is less on your legs. I just feel more confident in center.’

And, yes, there’s also the matter of pride. It’s tough for anyone to be told to give up their natural position despite being reminded constantly that Father Time is undefeated.

‘For Mike, I can only imagine that you’re a center field for so long and then they tell you to go to right or DH, that’s pride,’ said Hunter, who moved to right field in 2011 to make room for Peter Bourjos and Trout. ‘You got to swallow it.

‘But he lost a lot of weight. He was so strong at the top, it’s heavy on the legs. Now, he’s going to be able to move more efficiently. So having him play center field might be a good thing.’

Forget the physical burden of playing center, Hunter says, it’s the mental aspect that could greatly benefit Trout, knowing he can be provide value on the defensive side, too.

‘When you’re an athlete like Trout, playing center field for so long,’ Hunter said, ‘he used that defense to pump him up offensively. Defense never slumps, but it can actually pump you up. But if you’re not playing defense, and you struggle at the plate, then all you do is go and sit down and watch video.

‘That’s when the devil starts playing with your mind. Now, he can go out there and no matter what happens at the plate, he can always go out there and make something happen for the team.’

And if Trout is back, and stays healthy, well maybe the Angels can start dreaming of being a legitimate contender again.

‘At the end of the day,’ Minasian says, ‘a healthy Mike Trout obviously changes this club. I think he’s primed for a big year. We’re lucky to have him.’

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

Two national championship contenders from the Big 12 faced off — and lived up to the bill — when Iowa State knocked off Houston, 70-67, at home on Feb. 16.

He lived up to the moment, leading all scorers with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes played.

Watch Houston vs. Iowa State men’s basketball live with Fubo (free trial)

Iowa State, meanwhile, also has a veteran group. The Cyclones (21-3, 8-3) are led by multi-year starters Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey, making them one of the most-experience rosters in college basketball. Momcilovic and Jefferson are averaging 18.4 and 17 points per game this season, respectively.

Lipsey emerged as the hero for Iowa State, tying the game up with a late free throw and later securing a key offensive rebound with just one second on the clock to give the Cyclones one more shot to extend their one-possession lead.

Iowa State vs. Houston highlights

FINAL: Iowa State wins 70-67

An epic final two minutes saw the lead change hands multiple times. Jamarion Bateman hit a 22-footer for three for Iowa State. Kingston Flemings got a pull up jumper for Houston. Nate Heise made another three, and the roof at Hilton Coliseum blew off as the Cyclones went up 69-67 with a minute left to go.

Tamin Lipsey was once again the hero, securing a crucial rebound with one second left after Blake Buchanan missed his free throw. The ball ended up in Joshua Jefferson’s hands at the free throw line. He only made the first one, but the Cougars were forced to take a full-court heave as time expired.

The Cyclones ended the game on a 17-4 run after originally losing the lead three minutes into the second half.

2nd Half: Cyclones cap off 10-0 run to tie it late

Now it’s the Cougars who have gone cold. Dominykas Pleta and Joshua Jefferson each got buckets in the paint to bring Iowa State to within one point. After a double team forced Kingston Flemings into a bad shot from the corner that hit the side of the backboard, Tamin Lipsey got the rebound and drove right back into the lane and was fouled by Joseph Tugler.

Lipsey hit one of two free throws shots to tie things up at 64-64 with 3:40 to go.

2nd Half: Houston, Iowa State battling as Cougs’ depth gets tested, Houston leads 63-58

Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr. drained a three at the 15-minute mark in the second half to give the Cougars their first lead of the night. Kingston Flemings hit another three eight minutes later to extend their lead to double digits for his 20th point of the game, leading all scorers.

Houston took control of the game despite some late foul trouble from Sharp and Isiah Harwell falling awkwardly on his ankle.

Iowa State, meanwhile, had gone cold from three in the second half, shooting 0-9 until Jamarion Bateman hit a huge one to cut their deficit down to five points with five and a half minutes to go.

HALFTIME: Iowa State leads Houston 43-40

This one feels like a March Madness game. Both teams are shooting the ball well — 56% from the floor and 65% from three-point range for Iowa State, while Houston’s shooting 52% and 44% from deep.

The Cougars backcourt has combined for 34 points between Emanuel Sharp, who has a game-leading 16 points, Kingston Flemings and Milos Uzan, who have each scored nine. Uzan also has five assists, three rebounds and a steal.

The Cyclones offense has been more of a team effort. They don’t have any scorers in double figures, but they have a slight edge in rebounds (16-12) while being virtually similar in assists (9-8).

16:33 First Half: Joshua Jefferson sparks early Iowa State run

Senior forward Joshua Jefferson is putting his mark on the game from the tip-off. He’s got seven points with an assist to help the Cyclones get off to a 13-5 lead in the first four minutes.

What TV channel is Houston vs Iowa State on today?

• TV channel: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN app, Fubo (free trial)

Houston-Iowa State will air live on ESPN, with streaming options on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Houston vs Iowa State time today

• Time: 9 p.m. ET
• Date: Monday, Feb. 16
• Location: Hilton Coliseum (Ames, Iowa)

Cougars-Cyclones is set for a 9 p.m. ET tipoff on Monday, Feb. 16, from Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

Houston vs Iowa State odds

Odds via BetMGM as of Monday, Feb. 16

• Spread: Iowa State (-2.5)
• Moneyline: Iowa State -150 | Houston +125
• Over/Under: 134.5

MILAN — Despite a strong showing, the U.S. medal drought in pairs figure skating continues.

Team USA fell short at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday, Feb. 16. The teams of Spencer Akira Howe and Emily Chan, and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, were knocked off the podium before the competition ended. Howe and Chan finished in seventh, with Kam and O’Shea at ninth.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won gold in come-from-behind fashion with an excellent free skate for the country’s first pairs medal. Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia won silver, and bronze went to the German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin.

The last time the U.S. won a medal in pairs remains 1988, when Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard won bronze in Calgary. The 38-year drought is the longest between medals for any figure skating discipline in U.S. Olympic history.

Neither pair was expected to be contending for a medal, but they both came out with a bang in the short program, including Kam and O’Shea riding the momentum of their team event gold to earn a season-best score.

That placed them within striking distance going into the free skate. Kam and O’Shea were in seventh place – less than three points out of third – while Chan and Howe were less than five points back in ninth place.

Chan and Howe were the first U.S. pair to go in what was their strongest part of the competition, and the score reflected it. Despite Chan falling early in the program, they powered right through the deduction and executed everything the rest of the way. The pair got a season-best score of 130.25 for a total score of 200.31.

‘We’re so stoked that we could do two strong performances and finish our Olympic Games competition as we did,’ Howe said. ‘We work so hard to get to this stage, and then once you make it, it’s kind of like your brain doesn’t know how to process that.’

Unfortunately for Kam and O’Shea, they weren’t able to replicate the magic from the team event. Kam had back-to-back falls early in program that spoiled the momentum, earning a score of 122.71 for a final tally of 194.58.

The pair won’t be leaving Milano empty-handed with their team event gold medals the highlight of the trip.

‘Definitely did leave it all out there, just not in the way that I had thought that it was gonna go,’ Kam said. ‘But I’m still so proud of everything that we’ve done here. I feel like all the work that we put in at home has carried through to this competition.’

Still, it’s a promising outing that continues the upward trajectory in the U.S. pairs’ division. When Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished fifth in the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was the first top five finish for Team USA since 2002. Coupled with the eighth-place finish from Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, it was the first time the U.S. had two top-10 pairs since 1998.

Now, with both teams finishing in top 10, it’s the first time the U.S. has had it happen in back-to-back Winter Olympics since 1998 and 2002. Instead of regressing, the pairs are trending. That explains why both teams were all smiles afterward, feeling like they each accomplished great things in their own ways in their respective Olympic debuts.

‘What’s not to be positive about, right?’ a smiling O’Shea said.

Team USA has had so-so performances in figure skating ever since it won team gold to kick off the festivities in Milano Cortina, not winning another title since. Madison Chock and Evan Bates controversially settled for silver in the ice dance, and Ilia Malinin’s stunning collapse in the men’s resulted in no medal.

Now the final group to go will be the women, which will feature the ‘Blade Angels’ in Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito. They are all medal contenders, with the chance to win gold, something Team USA needs since it was the favorites in three of the four disciplines.

MILAN — Captain Hilary Knight stood on the ice as her USA women’s hockey teammates filed off, one by one, following another resounding performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The five-time Olympian, chasing her second Olympic gold medal, fist bumped each of her teammates, the last to go through the gap in the boards and head to the locker room.

There was Cayla Barnes, who scored about 5 minutes into the American’s 5-0 semifinal win over Sweden, her first goal of the tournament. There was Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra, who all scored in the second period, the latter three of whom scored within less than 3 minutes of each other.

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

“I think this is one of the best groups I’ve ever been part of,’ Edwards said. ‘I think our depth and being from top, down being that everyone plays a really good 200-foot game and we just play well together.”

The players, who have combined to score 31 goals so far this tournament, lingered briefly before heading into the tunnel, waving to fans and taking in the moment. They had gotten past their second-to-last hurdle, standing between them and that coveted Olympic gold, which the U.S. women have won twice (1998, 2018) and played for six times previously.

‘It’s hard to kind of zoom out while you’re here and look at the big picture because you’re so focused on the day to day,’ goaltender Aerin Frankel said. ‘But I think we look back at this tournament, what we’ve done so far has been amazing.’

The Americans outshot the Swedes 34-23, and Frankel was impenetrable, keeping Sweden off the board with spectacular save after save to preserve a fifth consecutive shutout. Meanwhile, as Knight remains one goal and one point away from setting the new U.S. Olympic all-time record in both categories, the vaunted leader is more than fine with her teammates getting the shine, quickly deflecting all praise to her teammates at every turn.

‘Anytime I put on this jersey, I feel just so lucky to be a part of this group because there’s so much talent in our locker room and it’s just so much fun to play with the best players in the world,’ Frankel said.

The Americans will play Canada in the gold medal match on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET.

What USA women’s hockey players said about playing for Olympic gold

• Joy Dune: ‘I think it speaks for itself what we want him here to do. We’ll just let the score speak for itself. We’re just going to keep pushing, knowing we can be better. There’s always room for improvement. We’re a really good team, but we can always continue to be better.’
• Aerin Frankel: ‘It’s hard to kind of zoom out while you’re here and look at the big picture because you’re so focused on the day to day. But I think we look back at this tournament, what we’ve done so far has been amazing.’
• Laila Edwards: ‘I mean, I think, believe it or not, we have been challenged and we just overcome it and succeeded, but we’ll take what we can get and hopefully come out on top.’

USA women’s hockey scores a rout vs. Sweden

Hayley Scamurra netted a goal at 37:59 to continue the Americans’ dominance in this semifinal matchup — and in this Olympic tournament. The goal gave USA a 5-0 lead.

Sweden swapped out goalkeeper Ebba Svensson Träff for Emma Soderberg at the 36:10 mark immediately after Träff conceded the four goal of the match, including two in less than a minute. Soderberg gave up a goal less than two minutes later to Hayley Scamurra.

USA women’s hockey scores 2 goals in less than a minute

Not 6 minutes after Taylor Heise put the Americans up 2-0, Abbey Murphy and Kendall Coyne Schofield scored within a minute of each other to extend the lead to 4-0. Hannah Bilka and Haley Winn were credited with the assist on Murphy’s goal; Megan Keller and Laila Edwards were credited with the assist on Coyne Schofield’s goal.

Taylor Heise scores for USA women’s hockey

Forward Taylor Heise extended USA’s lead over Sweden to 2-0 at the 29:09 mark. Hannah Bilka made a break toward the goal and connected with Heise, who tapped the puck in for her second score of the tournament. Abbey Murphy was also credited with an assist.

Read about her journey from being cut ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games to roaring back and becoming indespensible for this squad.

Jason Kelce stops by USA hockey vs. Sweden

U.S. women’s hockey rising star Laila Edwards isn’t the only Cleveland Heights native in the building. Fellow Ohioan Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie Kelce were in attendance at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Monday for Team USA’s semifinal matchup against Sweden.

Kelce was decked out in red, white and blue in a Team USA Kendall Coyne Schofield jersey.

Edwards revealed last month that Kelce and his brother, Travis Kelce, both donated to her GoFundMe campaign to bring her family and friends to Milan to cheer her on in person. Edwards became the first Black woman to score a goal for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Edwards, 22, assisted Schofield’s goal at the 36:10 mark.

USA’s Kirsten Simms called for interference

Kirsten Simms was called for an interference penalty, handing Sweden its second power play of the contest. The Americans were able to kill off the first power play and easily kept the Swedes away from their goal during the second.

USA women’s hockey roster

Here is the full U.S. women’s hockey roster for the Milano Cortina Olympics:

• Forwards: Kirsten Simms; Kelly Pannek; Grace Zumwinkle; Hayley Scamurra; Britta Curl-Salemme; Hilary Knight; Tessa Janecke; Hannah Bilka; Joy Dunne; Alex Carpenter; Kendall Coyne Schofield; Taylor Heise; Abbey Murphy.
• Goaltenders: Ava McNaughton; Aerin Frankel; Gwyneth Philips.
• Defenders: Lee Stecklein; Cayla Barnes; Caroline Harvey; Megan Keller; Rory Guilday; Haley Winn; Laila Edwards.

USA women’s hockey coach

John Wroblewski has led the squad since August 2022. Under his leadership, the Americans have two golds and two silvers at IIHR Women’s World Championships.

USA’s Hayley Scamurra hits penalty box

USA forward Hayley Scamurra is heading to the penalty box after being called for tripping. The penalty gave Sweden a one-player advantage and their first power play of the night.

USA women’s hockey leads Sweden after first period

The U.S. women have a 1-0 lead over Sweden after the first period. Cayla Barnes opened scoring at the 5:09 mark for the Americans, who recorded 13 shots on goal in the frame. Sweden registered only two shots on goal in the first period, including a breakaway shot that goalie Aerin Frankel caught to keep the Swedes off the board. Frankel has only one conceded one goal through three games, in addition to two shutouts.

USA gets first power play

The Americans got the first power play of the match after Sara Hjalmarsson was called for a boarding penalty at the 8:21 mark. However, Sweden was able to kill off the power play and is back at full strength.

USA women’s hockey takes 1-0 lead in first

The Americans are on the board just like that. Cayla Barnes hit a laser to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead over Sweden about 5 minutes into the first period. It was Barnes’ first goal of these Games and USA’s 27th of the tournament.

Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein were credited with the assist. The U.S. women are already up to 9-1 in shots on goal. The Swedes didn’t notch their first until more than halfway through the opening frame.

Caroline Harvey stats

Caroline Harvey has nine points so far these Games — two goals, seven assists — the most by a U.S. defender in an Olympics tournament.

Hilary Knight stats

The U.S. hockey captain and five-time Olympian is sitting on the doorstep of breaking two records. Most points by an American at the Olympics and most goals by an American at the Olympics. She is tied with Jenny Potter for most points (32), and in a three-way tie with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King for most goals (14).

USA women’s hockey game vs. Sweden underway

And we’re off here at this Olympics semifinal game. About 20 seconds into the first period, chants of ‘U-S-A! U-S-A!’ broke out from the crowd.

USA women’s hockey stats

• The Americans are 5-1 in the semifinals at the Olympics, the only loss coming to Sweden at the 2006 Games.
• This is the sixth time these sides have met in the Olympics. The Americans hold a 4-0-1-0 record.

USA women’s hockey lines today

What time does USA hockey play today?

• Date: Monday, Feb. 16
• Time: 10:40 a.m. ET
• Location: Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena

Puck drop between the U.S. women’s hockey team and Switzerland is set for 10:40 a.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 16 from the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

USA women’s hockey game today

• TV channel: USA Network
• Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC Olympic App | Peacock

USA Network will broadcast Monday’s U.S. women’s hockey semifinal matchup against Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Streaming options for the game include NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympic App (with a TV login).

You can also stream the game on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

• Canadian Megan Oldham won a gold medal in the women’s free ski big air event in Livigno, Italy.
• Oldham’s victory came after recovering from a concussion in November and a crash during the slopestyle event a week prior.
• This is Oldham’s second medal of the games, adding to a bronze she won in slopestyle.
• China’s Eileen Gu secured her fifth Olympic medal by winning silver in the same event.

LIVIGNO, Italy — Megan Oldham wanted to bring one medal back to Canada. Any color would do.

She certainly won’t complain then with two in her suitcase – one being gold that the 24-year-old won Monday night in the women’s free ski big air event that was delayed 75 minutes as sidewinding snow blanketed the Valtellina Valley.

“Honestly, this has been an Olympics that has totally surpassed my dreams … and to come home with gold is something I never thought was possible,” Oldham said. “I’m so proud of myself.”

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

And she should be. Her performance over the past week-plus at Livigno Snow Park – and really the last few months – has been rooted in perseverance.

In November, she suffered a concussion that put her on the shelf for four weeks. Oldham had never dealt with one before and faced uncertainty regarding the recovery, she said. Her coach, JF Cusson, was on the road with other athletes and couldn’t oversee that process. When she returned, Cusson said, they had to scrap the original bag of tricks they planned on bringing to Italy since she’d injured herself trying to up her moves.

A week ago, she suffered a “heavy” crash on the final jump of her fist slopestyle run. She shook it off and made the podium with bronze. Of course, she’d be determined and do everything she could to display her skiing, Oldham said. That didn’t make the hematoma on her quad that would seize up any more comfortable.

By the big air finals, she wasn’t limping anymore — just some leftover bruising and soreness.

“I don’t what it is,” said Oldham, who finished fourth in big air in Beijing four years ago, which was tough to process for her. “But just something about it, I want to be up there and prove mostly to myself that I’m capable of it.”

Maybe that explains why she did not take a customary victory jump even though she’d secured gold by the last run of the night. She’d trained hard, after all, and wanted to show everyone the switch 1400 mute. She didn’t land it. It didn’t matter.

Growing up with two brothers – one older, one younger, both in town to watch their sister – who are adrenaline junkies, she tried to keep up with them. They bring out the best in her, she said.  

“Now I can hold this one over them, for sure,” she joked.

Skiing off the roof of family home’s garage was the example Oldham cited of how she and her brothers would get up to no good. One time, their dad came home as they were embarking on a “run.” He was livid – not necessarily concerned for their well-being. He feared them damaging the roof.  

“That was all my brother’s idea,” Oldham said. “I was just tagging along. That shows where it comes from, for sure. The no fear comes from him.”

Oldham’s win was Canada’s second gold of these Olympics – and second in as many days after Mikael Kingsbury won men’s dual moguls Sunday.

China’s Eileen Gu won her fifth Olympic medal in five events and will go for a sixth in the women’s halfpipe later this week. That would make her the most-decorated free skier – male or female – ever.

“Five-time Olympic medalist has a nice ring to it,” Gu said.

We’re going about this Jerome Tang thing the wrong way. 

This isn’t about basketball, or the lack of a winning team, or hurt feelings or Tang embarrassing a university. 

This is about the underperforming football team at Kansas State. 

Because when football isn’t right, nothing else matters. When you’re staring at K-State paying Tang what is believed to be the largest buyout for a coach in college basketball history, the mind immediately moves to where that money could be better spent. 

Like, I don’t know, the football team.

When Chris Klieman decided after last season that his health couldn’t take the unruly state of college football, and that Kansas State wasn’t helping matters by how it approached player procurement for the front porch of the university’s sports programs, he retired and left no doubt why. 

“You guys are smart enough to realize that those who have the most money, have the best players,” Klieman said after K-State’s regular season final against Colorado. “And they’re spending $40-50 million. The ones like us that don’t, man, we’ve got to scratch and fight and claw.”

So K-State accepted the resignation of the best coach it could possibly ask for since Bill Snyder’s second retirement, and hired former Wildcats great Collin Klein.

I don’t think I’m breaking news by saying K-State had to have made significant financial promises to Klein to get him to take the job. You’re not winning at a high level in the Big 12 if you’re not spending, and Klein could’ve waited at Texas A&M until the right job opened at an SEC school.

We now circle back to Tang, who led K-State to the NCAA tournament after his first season in 2023, and then signed a lucrative seven-year extension. The program has struggled since, and K-State has every right to terminate the contract of a struggling coach.

Then pay him what he is owed on the remainder of his deal: $18.7 million.

Now here’s where it gets fuzzy, and quite frankly, more than disturbing. 

After an ugly home loss to Cincinnati, Tang ripped into his players, saying they “don’t deserve to wear this uniform” and “they don’t love this place, so they don’t deserve to be here.”

Then he said he’d wear a paper bag on his head, too, if he were a K-State fan. 

If John Calipari said this at Arkansas, if Rick Pitino said this at St. Johns, they’d be celebrated for not pandering to today’s lavished student-athletes. 

Hell, Mick Cronin does it nearly every game at UCLA — win or lose. 

But now — now — K-State is deep in its feelings. Now we’re supposed to believe the hardscrabble, no guts, no glory athletics program is offended by a basketball coach spitting truth to a bunch of players paid to play a game?

Mommy, the mean man said I won’t be around much longer because I’m not playing defense and giving effort!

I’m gonna puke.  

Make no mistake, K-State took the fiscally prudent road out. Even with all the inherent potholes of trying to fire for cause.

K-State officials say Tang ripping his team embarrassed the university, and is just cause for dismissal. Uh, folks, your basketball team embarrassed the university. 

And this decision is a close second.

By firing for cause, K-State is trying to avoid losing millions in buyout money, and that $18-and-change million owed to Tang sure would look good supporting the new coach of a football program that won six games in 2025. 

The football program that has again fallen behind in the Big 12, this time after an elite coach could take it no more. The state of college football is bad enough, it’s worse when the financial support isn’t there. 

So you better believe K-State is going down this road, reputation be damned. They’ll take it to court and hope Tang wants to coach again, and just wants a resolution to the whole mess. 

Pay him half of what they owe him (or less), and use the rest to support the one program that fuels all in Manhattan. It’s not like this hasn’t happened before.

Tennessee self-reported NCAA violations to get out of paying Jeremy Pruitt’s buyout, paying an $8 million fine to the NCAA instead. Michigan State did the same to Mel Tucker when he was accused of sexual harassment — a case from the alleged victim that was later thrown out in court.

This is how universities clean up their contractual messes: by starting fires in the other corner as diversionary tactics.

I’m guessing Snyder, the man who orchestrated the greatest turnaround in college football history at woebegone K-State, told players on some of those early teams in Manhattan that they didn’t deserve to wear the purple. Told many that they weren’t coming back the following season. 

After a one-point loss to TCU in 2018 that included a missed extra point and a critical fumble by wide receiver Isaiah Zuber, Snyder said, ‘It wasn’t special teams as much as it was an individual.’

And that was tame compared to how he held players accountable.

But Snyder is a hero in the heartland. Has a statute in front of the stadium that bears his name. 

Hell, he probably puked, too, when he heard the news.

Until he learned it could help the football program. 

A deadly shooting at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, left two people deceased and at least three individuals wounded following a family dispute on Feb. 16, according to the Pawtucket Police Department.

The New England Patriots were among the many in the sports world to react to the shooting. The six-time Super Bowl-winning franchise issued a statement regarding the incident on social media.

‘The New England Patriots organization is heartbroken by the tragic shooting that occurred today in Pawtucket, Rhode Island,’ their statement on X, formerly Twitter, said. ‘Our hearts are with the students, coaches, fans and all those affected by this act of violence.’

Pawtucket is a city within Providence County. The shooting occurred at Dennis M. Lynch Arena, which is nearly five miles from Providence.

The site is about a 20-mile drive to Gillette Stadium, the football home of the Patriots.

See reactions from the sports world

Here’s how other local sports teams reacted to the Pawtucket shooting on Feb. 16.